


You can wake up now

by likelikeLove



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, Dreams, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24953863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likelikeLove/pseuds/likelikeLove
Summary: Chanyeol had heard of prophetic dreams before but he couldn’t tell if he was dreaming of the past, the future…or the present.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 25
Kudos: 47
Collections: Challenge #4 — Into the Future





	You can wake up now

**Author's Note:**

> So after complaining _endlessly_ …I’m glad this theme won the poll 😊 I’m very happy to be joining Tiny Sparks for the 2nd time!

He was standing in the most wondrous place, in a sea of bright red and green, the air so heavy with perfume he felt almost dizzy. He didn’t understand what he was seeing and bent to touch one of the red things. It was soft and came apart in his fingers. 

He looked up at the sound of laughter. There was a young man next to him. He had dark hair, a pleasant face with slightly downturned eyes and pointed, delicate lips. Chanyeol didn’t recognise him and yet somehow felt he knew him.

The boy put both hands on Chanyeol’s shoulders. He pressed down playfully, laughter on his lips as he pulled Chanyeol down to his own height then kissed him. His lips were warm and soft and even more dizzying than the sweet scent enveloping them. The experience was enticingly new and yet achingly familiar all at once.

***

“I had a weird dream,” said Chanyeol to Sehun the next day as they were patrolling the inside perimeter of the dome.

“About me?” asked Sehun, cringing disgustedly.

“No!” denied Chanyeol immediately. “About this amazing place I’ve never seen before. There were these weird little red and green things. They were very fragile, but they smelled just incredible.” He felt like he didn’t even have the vocabulary to properly explain what he had seen. He didn’t mention the boy, that bit felt too personal.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Sehun flatly.

“Yeah, neither do I, I guess,” admitted Chanyeol.

An awkward silence fell and Chanyeol regretted mentioning the dream. They kept walking, checking the inside of the dome for signs of damage. They were new recruits for the dome maintenance team and as such got the most boring jobs. A drone flew over skirting the enormous dome above them which covered the whole settlement of Neo-Terra, the last inhabitable place on earth. Chanyeol looked up at it, he wondered how many years it would be before he got to do anything fun like fly surveillance drones. Still, it was better than an office job, though few agreed with him on that. Working for the maintenance team was neither a popular nor respected career choice. He had no family connections, so his options had been limited.

He gazed around while Sehun busied himself documenting an insignificant crack in the dome. He’d never noticed the absence of colour the place had until last night. He closed his eyes and pictured that radiant swell of red and green, dancing gently in a light breeze. Everything in Neo-Terra was a dull clinical grey, he felt those colours described his life here too. Even what he could see outside, when he peered through the transparent dome, was barren. A desolate dusty plain and a huge imposing mountain ridge.

“Don’t tell anyone this,” said Sehun suddenly, “but my grandma used to tell me these stories that her great-grandma had told her. They used to live on this thing called a _farm_ and they _grew_ things.”

“A farm?” repeated Chanyeol. “Is that like a laboratory?”

“No, it’s outside. They grew things in the ground.”

Chanyeol looked down at the ground in confusion. It was endless, hard concrete and metal. Nothing had ever grown here.

“Not here,” explained Sehun, “this was years ago, long before the dome. Anyway, she told me about these things she called _flowers,_ they were all different colours and they all had different scents.”

“Flowers,” said Chanyeol, he let the word roll around his mouth, but it still felt foreign on his tongue.

“I’m not sure if that’s what you saw, but if it is, then it sounds like you’re dreaming of the past somehow,” said Sehun, he gave an involuntary shudder.

Chanyeol didn’t like that idea much either.

They were near one of secured hatches which led outside. The maintenance team had access to these, though there were strict rules about opening them. Chanyeol looked at it and asked, “If they grew things in the ground before, why couldn’t they do it again someday?”

“You know why!” said Sehun, sounding annoying now, “It’s all ruined, even the air is ruined. You can’t even breathe out there.”

“Have you ever tried?”

“Oh, course I haven’t. I like my lungs fully inflated, thank you. Everyone knows you’ll die if you go out there without proper gear on.”

“We only know that…because that’s what they tell us,” said Chanyeol slowly.

Sehun looked around nervously. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your little musings to yourself from now on.”

“Sorry,” muttered Chanyeol. “I’m just tired, I guess.”

“You should dream less and sleep more.”

Chanyeol nodded but that night he found himself hoping he would dream of that place and that boy all over again.

***

They were walking hand in hand this time, around them the flowers swayed lightly in a warm breeze perfuming the air with their intoxicating scent.

The boy tugged on his hand and he hoped he would kiss him again, but he was just drawing his attention to something behind them. Chanyeol turned, he could see rising up from where the flowers ended was a ridge of high mountains. Beyond it, just barely in sight, was something which glinted in the moonlight. He blinked, finally understanding what he was seeing. It was the very top of the dome far off in the distance behind the mountains.

He turned to the boy who smiled knowingly. He stood on the tips of his toes and lifted his face to let his bottom lip bump teasingly against Chanyeol’s. Chanyeol wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist, bending his face to his and smiling into the kiss. 

“As soon as I wake up, I’ll come and find you,” promised Chanyeol.

“I’ll be waiting right here,” said the boy and his eyes shined even more brightly than the dome in the moonlight. “You can wake up now.”

***

Chanyeol opened his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> You climb every mountain, Chanyeol! Get that dream boy!


End file.
